Where Do The Cleveland Browns Rank Among New Uniforms?
Six teams have released new uniforms for the 2020 season and the opinions have been all over the place. Well, except for the Atlanta Falcons. There seems to be a consensus that the new Falcons uniforms are pretty bad. Conor Orr released his definitive ranking for the new uniforms and it's a pretty good list, save for hard-line stance when it comes to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
This all comes down to personal taste on some level, but I can't stomach the idea the Buccaneers finished fourth behind the Los Angeles Rams. The idea of rolling with the creamcicle uniforms complete with their randy pirate on the side of the helmet always sound better in theory than practice. It's not as gimmicky as the bumblebee Pittsburgh Steelers uniforms or the blue Green Bay Packers uniforms, which are an eyesore. The creamcicle are fun for a game. They aren't the uniforms a team should be wearing for a full season.
Beyond that, the pewter uniforms look great. It's not like they are running with a color scheme a bunch of other teams utilize. It is unique. The colors pop and they look good. And the Rams have come out with uniforms that they are calling bone when that color should be called 'dinge'. As in, they look like uniforms from a laundry detergent commercial that went with 'the other guy'.
With that off of my chest, the Cleveland Browns finish second on this list behind the Los Angeles Chargers. The Chargers uniforms are fine. They look good for the most part. I stop short at the idea of them being the best uniforms in the NFL. The powder blue does a significant amount of heavy lifting, deservedly, but those uniforms aren't as good as the currently stationed in Las Vegas Raiders, as an example.
Meanwhile, the Browns finishing second might be indicative of a few things. First, the Browns finish second despite the fact they really did so little to actually change their uniforms. They went back to an old style and basically let Nike's uniform technology go from there. It's amazing how much of a difference having the uniforms form fitting makes. The uniforms from the 80s that these were based on tended to look more ordinary for the simple fact they were big and loose. Simple goes a long way, not unlike a tuxedo or a black dress, when it's properly fit.
Second, we as a collective are pretty boring. We don't like change and have certain expectations and when they are not met, the reactions tend to be negative as the Rams, Falcons and New England Patriots and their generic looking uniforms are discovering. The Browns uniforms from 2015 that everyone couldn't wait to get out of were far too ambitious. It tends to be attempting thread the needle to be brave, really go for it and have it work. The Chargers were the one team to make that work this year.
The only time ambitious football uniforms tend to pay off is when it's a college program with no meaningful history trying to make people notice them. Maryland is a good example. The only team that really needs an ambitious makeover currently are the Tennessee Titans. Those uniforms are just plain awful and it's such a shame because the Houston Oilers had beautiful uniforms.
